Zaister's page

A sorcerer in my Legacy of Fire campaign has taken a liking to a certain lucky cat. She would really like to take the cat as a familiar, mostly to protect it from harm. Unfortunately she has a bloodline that does not include the Arcane Bond ability. I'm considering allowing her to spend her next feat to get this ability. Is this a viable solution, or can anyone think of a better way? Or do we already have a way to make this happen that I'm not aware of?

Thank you for your advice.

Awesome. I'm definitely getting this. I don't think I'll actually need these characters, but thy Kyra picture looks great, and we need to tell Paizo to make more of those (for example for AP support!), so that's reason enough to buy them for me!

The big difference is that Aroden defeated a demon lord that had invaded Golarion (he didn't actually KILL Deskari), whereas Desna marched into the Abyss and killed a demon lord in his own home, then burned his home down.

... with lemons?

I have a question regarding the mites in Stolen Lands. What do mites call themselves? I'm pretty sure something different then the rather derogatory "mite". And what do the kobolds call them? I'm fine with them being derogatory, but not being exactly much taller than the mites, "mites" seems unfitting.

The rules for clerics say that clerics cast spells from the cleric spell list, and never restrict those, except by alignment. (The same thoughts apply to druids and other spell-preparing divine casters as well.) The implication is that a cleric has access to all cleric spells (except those forbidden by his or his deity's alignment). For the spells for the Core Rulebook, I think this fact.

However, as soon as new source books are considered, the question arises, are new spells automatically added to a cleric's spell list? For general rule books, like the Advanced Player's Guide, or Ultimate Magic, I think, this can generally be assumed. Are the rules supposed to be read like this?

But what of the various spells spread around through, for example, Pathfinder Campaign Setting source books? As an example, there are new spells in the Rival Guide. Are divine spell casters assumed to be able to prepare new spells like these by default, or would they have to go through some kind of process to gain access to them? What would such a process entail? Or, can divine spellcasters "research" spells, like wizards can as indicated in the Core Rulebook?

How do you handle this in your game? Are there recommendations by the game's designers?

Maybe it would help if you would actually go and read the rules on the Acrobatics skills, instead of asking more or less the same question over and over again?

Zaister wrote:

I think it's necessary that the adventures use the expanded options. Otherwise there's a power skew between the PCs and the adventure cast.

I thought Paizo were trying to avoid power-creep.

The power skew I'm talking about does not occur due to power creep, at least not the way I interpret it. Having the PCs use the new books but not the NPCs creates an environment where PCs may have options that NPCs cannot be prepared for, because possible answers are not available for them. New books can give the PCs new options that aren't more powerful because they might be contained by other new options, but only if they are available to the opposition. To me that is not necessarily power creep; even balanced new options might possibly still create a power skew if they are only available to one side.

That is why I want Paizo to have all options from all rulebooks available when creating adventures.

Well, it all seems fine to me as it is - but then again I'm not one of the ones who thinks it's an issue.

I think that Paizo has decided to take a specific path (building on the material they've created), and there's some folks out there who don't like it (i.e. want some sort of Pathfinder Core Only stamp on Adventure Paths, whatever that entails). It's unfortunate for them, but I think it's unlikely that Paizo will suddenly backtrack, and I hope they don't.

Then again (looks up at the Superscriber tag) it's not surprising I feel that way.

I fully concur. Must really be the tag. :)

I think it's necessary that the adventures use the expanded options. Otherwise there's a power skew between the PCs and the adventure cast.

Thanks, that's good to hear!

Sounds good! Will there be a print edition, too?

I have a question regarding the Fzumi salt mine. I don't really see how it benefits the expedition to clear up the mine. Are we really supposed to have the whole expedition, wagons, cars and all travel through these flooded tunnels? How is this supposed to work? That sounds to me a lot of difficult work just to gain one day of travel time.

I have a question regarding the title of this adventure. I'm wondering in which sense the word "ruin" is used here. Is it a race to the ruins of Tazion (i.e. ruin = remains of an old city) or is it a race into someone's (the party's own?) ruin (i.e. ruin = doom). The singular in the title points to the second meaning, but the first one would make more sense to me.

It answers you question perfectly as your character will be an oddball anywhere in Golarion, no matter what kind of faith he pursues, as that kind of "furry" character is practically unheard of in Golarion.

Awesome. It looks as though the old Sinister Adventures website belongs to some outdoor adventure travel place.

Sinister indeed.

Zaister wrote:

Huh? I'm not seeing any driders in this book? What are you talking about?

Maybe we have some cross-thread confusion with the Rivals Guide discussion?

Ah, that's entirely possible.

Curse you Eva Widermann! Driders are not supposed to be sexy!! :)

Huh? I'm not seeing any driders in this book? What are you talking about?

I'm still not sure how this can profit my adventure path campaign. For Serpent's Skull there are already enough rival expeditions in play, shove in in another group that basically has nothing to do with the whole thing, except they want to genocide elves for no particular reason except that they are evil, well I don't see how that fits. Also putting in an evil group like that, that's not rivals (unless the PCs are in the buisenss of slaughtering elves themselves), that's just one more encounter, probably out of the blue, nothing more, I think.

Not sure about the groups designed to fit Kingmaker as well. Hm. Might be, I just don't get this book.

Awesome!

One thing I'd like to mention about this card set: In the past, due to scheduling issues, it has often been difficult for us to tie the item cards to the AP as strongly as we'd like. That all changes with this set—items from this set will be appearing throughout the entire AP in a way we've never been able to manage before.

Dammit, you are trying to make me want to run this AP despite my reservations for pseudo-Asian fantasy...

I have a question regarding the Leadership subdomain. (I already posted this on the APG forum, but Vic indicated it might be better to post it here.) The text for the Inspiring Command ability is as follows:

Inspiring Command (Su): As a standard action, you can issue an inspiring command to your allies. The inspiring command affects one ally plus one additional ally for every three cleric levels you possess, who must all be within 30 feet of you. Affected allies gain a +2 insight bonus on attack rolls, AC, combat maneuver defense, and skill checks for 1 round. This is a language-dependant mind-affecting effect.

I'm wondering if it is intentional that this sounds as if the ability could be used at will. I think a sentence like "You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier." might be missing here. The Nobility domain power replaced by this subdomain, Inspiring Word, for example, like many other domain powers, is limited in this way. Can someone shed some light on this?

Zaister wrote:

Hm, I must admit after browsing through the PDF, I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do with this book.

Same thing you'd do with a Bestiary. Only with NPCs instead of monsters.

Well, creatures from the Bestiaries pop up in Pathfinder adventures all the time, these guys, more probably not.

I don't mind interesting NPCs, not at all. I often get ideas for new characters I find interesting myself, and since I rarely get to use one of these ideas as a PC (these tend to be long-lived usually in the campaign I play in), I can only realize them as NPCs in my own campaign, and even then it's not that easy fitting them into a finished adventure like an Adventure Path, and the same thing applies to the characters in this book. Fitting in one character is often difficult enough, let alone a whole adventuring party.

Hm, I must admit after browsing through the PDF, I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do with this book.

Thanks, Cosmo!

Not exactly a scintillating at-will ability, given that you have to burn a standard action on it and it only lasts for one round - I'm inclined to think that yes, it's at-will, but I don't see many people spending their standard action every round maintaining it.

Yes I can see it going either way, that is why I'm asking. (Also because I want PCGen to get it right.)

I think something is weird with my sidecart. On March 17, I submitted order #1649914, containing, among other things, a preorder for "Book of the River Nations: Complete (PFRPG) Print Edition" by Jon Brazer Enterprises, which at the time was said to include the PDF. This item was moved from the order to the sidecart some time later. Now, finally, this product is available, but it is still sitting in my sidecart, unable to be added to my current pending order, and I'm not able to get access to the PDF. Is there anything that can be done about this? I'd really like to get access to the PDF soon. If necessary, please cancel the old order of this item so I can reorder the current print/PDF bundle product.

When will preorderers be able to download the PDF?

"Vow of Poverty allows for non-magical, non-masterwork simple weapons only."

The falchion is non-magical and non-masterwork. I don't apply it to simple weapons only, because the crusaders who historically took vows of poverty used a range of martial weapons (most commonly longswords) including even crossbows.

To be fair, those crusader didn't get all those supernatural benefits from their vows. The restriction on simple weapons is there for a reason, and that's game balance. If one could actually talk about balance when that feat is concerned.

Sounds like a great summer product - Golarion Beach Ball Globe!

According to my Book of Exalted Deeds, a falchion should not be allowed for a character with Vow of Poverty, no matter how old, rusty or dented it is. Do you even apply any penalties for being old, rusty and dented? Anyway, Vow of Poverty allows for non-magical, non-masterwork simple weapons only.

I thought that's what the Ultimate Combat playtests were for. ;)

That's why I said "more pointless discussions". :)

For me, the travel is the redeeming feature that might make Jade Regent at least interesting to read, probably more so even than Carrion Crown. There was travel in previous APs which didn't seem to put people off, though.

However, as far s I am concerned, I have zero interest in playing in the pseudo-Asian setting, let alone GM it, especially having several players that hold more interest and knowledge in this area, and I really couldn't bear endless discussions about the whole Samurai/Ninja/Katana stuff. Beyond that, many tropes of Asian folklore and mythology are very off-putting to me, such as the various races used in previous Oriental Adventures, like -yokai and so on. I just can't stand anthropomorphized and/or talking animals in any medium (and that includes western movies), and I'm afraid this stuff will as certainly come up in a pseudo-Asian setting as wetstern myth creatures come up in a more traditional setting.

I'm not a fan of Carrion Crown either, as its gothic-horror-style doesn't appeal to me much either. It could be nice for a single adventure, like the original I6 Ravenloft adventure, but as a general setting, like the later Ravenloft setting, it doesn't hold an interest for me, it's to excessive and too narrowly focused. Also, I don't understand why this gothic horror stuff is considered "scary"; I've never been able to feel that, and maybe that is why a campaign or setting like that doesn't do much for me.

Well, so the Carrion Crown APs go on the shelf mostly unread (another reason for that is that the GM in a group I play in might still decide to use them). I'll read more from Jade Regent probably, as the setup and journey look interesting, but once the travels end and the eastern myth stuff that I detest comes into play, I'll probably stop reading the adventures and hope the next AP will be something that comes closer to meeting my interests.

Anyway I don't begrudge people who like that stuff that they get them. I just hope Jade Regent won't lead to more pointless discussions how everything needs to be better just because it's Japanese. :)

There are no good zombies, or good undead in general in the Pathfinder RPG.

Holmes is the "Blue Box" original Basic Set, ...

Thank you, I know of that box, I've just never heard of it referred to in that way.

Question, if you can answer it, will it be more like Holmes which lead players to AD&D by design? or more like BECMI and stand alone as a game in itself, a more simplified Pathfinder, taking characters to high levels with more releases?

What is "Holmes"?

Ah yes thats the bit I forgot- I just divide all obtained XP by 6 and give each of my 5 characters this amount so progression remains the same.

Interesting idea. :)

Thank you, I will check out the PbP thread. My group is built on 15 points and with five players Alexander's conversion might generate too many XPs, but I might be able to do a five PC conversion along the same guidelines.

More than a year after its first publication, I'm finally starting my Kingmaker campaign next week. I thought I'd be able to use the fabulous "Kingmaker for 6 PCs" conversions from these forums, but some last-minute player reshuffling between my groups now leaves me with 5 players for Kingmaker, so I'm a bit between the original and the conversion.

However, there seems to be a lot of other good GM advice for this campaign around, but I have kind of lost track during the wait for my previous campaign to end. That's why I'm asking around which threads or posts in particular the community can recommend from this forum. What went over particularly well in your Kingmaker campaigns? I'd be happy to hear something.

Thank you all in advance!

Looking forward to this, as my Kingmaker campaign is starting next week!

Might be useful for a game set in Cheliax, for example. And then, some groups play with some of even all evil characters and can certainly use this book.

A question regarding the spells listed in this book: some of these spells (Gorum's armor, infernal healing, greater infernal healing, lover's vengeance, shield of the Dawnflower, vision of Lamashtu, waters of Lamashtu) were previously published in Gods & Magic or 3.5 era Pathfinder deity articles and tied to one specific deity each. Infernal healing and greater infernal healing were even reprinted as Pathfinder RPG versions in the Asmodeus article in Pathfinder #29.

The Inner Sea World Guide now omits these ties to specific deities. Do we assume that alle divine spellcasters can now get access to these spells or should they be kept restricted to the followers of their respective deities?

I have a question regarding the Leadership subdomain. The text for the Inspiring Command ability is as follows:

Inspiring Command (Su): As a standard action, you can issue an inspiring command to your allies. The inspiring command affects one ally plus one additional ally for every three cleric levels you possess, who must all be within 30 feet of you. Affected allies gain a +2 insight bonus on attack rolls, AC, combat maneuver defense, and skill checks for 1 round. This is a language-dependant mind-affecting effect.

I'm wondering if it is intentional that this sounds as if the ability could be used at will. I think a sentence like "You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier." might be missing here. The Nobility domain power replaced by this subdomain, Inspiring Word, for example, like many other domain powers, is limited in this way. Can someone shed some light on this?

I'll ** spoiler omitted **

Love the Firefly reference. :)

And going that far north, oh there will be saves.

Jeez, fort save versus the hot climate takes my veteran Sargavan party by surprise sometimes, wonder how the level ones will fare.

Touches npc bard.
He breaks.

By the way, depending on time of year, you can travel through/around Earth's Antarctica with out having to expect temperatures below the lower threshold of endure elements, which is -50 °F (~ -45 °C). And we have no information at all about climate conditions on Golarion's Crown of the World. Considering crossing the Crown is an established trade route, and that most travelers won't have access to magic more powerful than that, is cans be assumed that the journey won't be much more impeded by cold climate that can reasonably be tolerated with a spell like endure elements.

And I'm not sure temperatures in Sargava rise a lot about 140 °F (60 °C).

Morons? It was a joke Zaister. You know, a joke about how dangerous it could be for an essential npc to tool around with a bunch of pcs, when pcs de-humanising npcs is often the norm in my experience as a dm watching the players. Read the posting rules, they are below when you are writing a reply.

I wasn't calling you a moron, I was calling a certain behavior moronic, i.e. intentionally sending an essential asset of an AP into dire peril. And constantly dehumanizing NPCs seems to me moronic behavior, too. If someone wants to play that way, fine, but I don't consider that style of play too compatible with Paizo APs. Whatever.

As for the Crown of the World to Tian, isn't Tian east of Vudra and far west of Varisia/Sargava across the sea?

So one could presumedly sail to some of their port cities by going east looping around Kelesh and Vudra, or set off from the most western inner sea nations and go west off the standard map.

If you go west you'll have to cross two oceans and a whole continent (Arcadia), and the east route also need to cross a two continents (Avistan and Casmaron) and an ocean described as dangerous. Taking the direct land route (the polar region is land, not like our Arctic) has been described as being a shorter and less dangerous journey.

Although having played a lot of spelunky, I'm not sure the princess is going to survive very long. Princesses are used to disarm traps, every spelunker knows that!

Princess dies. MISSION FAILED.

Well maybe the group should simply not consists of morons only...

Also why does the adventure go north? Is there some reason to get frostbite and risk death every night? Wouldn't the quickest way be to follow the trade routes from Inner Sea to Kelesh, to Vudra, to Tian?

The route over the Crown of the World is the established trade route from the Inner Sea region to Tian-Xia. This has been stated on various occasions by Paizo personnel.

This has already been covered in the Inner Sea World Guide errata thread.

Only the part about the Creation/Artifice domain was. This is about the ISWG saying Apsu grants the Scalykind domain, while FoP replaces that with th Earth domain.

A question regarding Apsu's domains: The Inner Sea World Guide lists Apsu's domains as Creation, Good, Law, Scalykind and Travel, while Faiths of Purity lists Creation, Earth, Good, Law and Travel. Which is correct?

Also, in both cases, I think Creation should be Artifice.

By the way, "Herzog" isn't just a name, it is also an old German nobility title, roughly corresponding to the British duke.

Happy Birthday, Erik, from Germany!

Short version: with all the issues mentioned above I would definitely limit books to the ones published by Paizo and I also agree with the crafting feat + fund withdraw / item selling issue: do NOT go there.

In this case you should be careful not to refer to the Core Rulebook as Players Handbook to avoid confusion.